Track test: 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo

Originally published: July 22, 2010

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Bruce Gregory is a man who knows fast.

Gregory, a founder and partner of Calabogie Motorsports Park outside Ottawa, Ont., owns so many cars it’s a wonder he doesn’t lose track of them. A 996 Porsche 911 GT3, 2011 Ford Mustang GT, Formula Libre Radical SR3, are just a few of the machines he enjoys every day.

Affable and down-to-earth, Gregory, 50, is also an extremely precise driver, never pompous, not one to ridicule sloppy driving — but not one to let you screw up either. Anyone who has ever met him will regale in his warm personality. Anyone who has spent time behind the wheel of car with him will know he’s safety conscious, but somehow relaxed enough not to show the worry he harbours anytime inexperienced drivers take to his challenging yet thrilling 5.05-km track.

And while I wouldn’t say he was anxious when I showed up with the 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo, priced at a cool $177,125, he was definitely concerned I would not be able to handle the car’s 500 horsepower, especially with light rain waxing the course.

So was I.

But, somehow, the Turbo makes it all look easy. The computer systems that control the torque split between front and rear-wheel drive herded me through each corner with only the occasional drift, the Porsche Stability Management (PSM) system allowing a longer drift leash than I would have expected, keeping me off Calabogie’s mint-green grass with only the lightest of corrections.

The limited slip rear differential is also at work, but you’d never know it from inside the car as everything comes together like a symphony of fire. If there’s any turbo lag, it’s so negligible I’m not picking up on it. The manual shifts are short, not too stiff, and the pedals are in perfect position. Everything is as a driver would expect it to be. I could do this all day long.

With each lap, I became more comfortable, more confident in what many would consider a supercar and the prince of all Porsche models (save for the new Turbo S), the price of which at $165,000 to start is more grounded than only one other car on the planet with this type of capability — the $99,500 Nissan GT-R.

But to fully see the capabilities of this Turbo, I needed to turn the key over to Gregory.

“Be careful,” I say, then realize how silly that sounds because Gregory has driven more laps on this track than anyone, ever, and his ability on this stunning ribbon of smooth tarmac is second to few in the entire country. It’s a little like asking Paul Tracy to go easy on gasoline.

I watch Gregory drive away. Off in the distance, I hear the typhoon-like roar of dense air being sucked through the Turbo’s variable turbine geometry as he makes his way around the several corners of the track. Soon, he peels past the straightway, reaching for every last pound from the Turbo’s 480 lb.-ft. of torque.

Gregory, a Porsche nut, is absolutely crazy about his GT3 for its raw and tactile feel; it’s a car he says that delivers a connectedness to the track that few cars of today can replicate. So, it is with surprise when he answers my question about what he thinks of the 2010 Turbo.

“I would replace my 996 GT3 with this car,” Gregory says flatly. “The 997 chassis is very planted on the track, much more stable in high-speed corners than the previous car.

Describing the bottomless well of power, he describes the power delivery as “huge and seamless, it’s very drivable.” Typical of Porsche, he adds, “the ergonomics are very good. Heel and toe is easy, the brakes are very strong, the car is the perfect and purpose vehicle for track and street.”

He’s right, of course. The Turbo can, depending on the location, be driven as gently as our provincial laws dictate, or as hard as gravity and physics will dictate, all in the same hour. It will hit 100km/hr in 3.7 seconds, yet there’s two back seats and a boot to hammer home the point that this is a car with broad purpose, unlike the GT3 which has no back seats, is much louder and more at home on the track. The Turbo is also a car that can achieve 8.3L/100km on the highway from its 3.8-litre flat-six engine now equipped with direct fuel injection.

I was surprised a track owner would trade a track star GT3 for the Turbo. So, to be sure, I gave the keys to someone else who is equally at home in a 996 911 GT3.

“I liked the car, however it lacks the immediate feedback of my GT3,” says Porsche owner Paul Racine, a longtime Porsche Club instructor and partner in En-Track Experience Inc., an Ottawa based company specializing in organizing advanced driving experiences for various corporations and organizations. He also marveled at the Turbo’s staggering power.

“The power is very linear – and there seems to be an unending supply. It has great balance and the electronic controls let the driver explore a few boundaries without interfering. This car lets the driver indulge in unlimited acceleration while being kept safe with a few advanced electronic control systems.”

Racine, perhaps, sums it perfectly when he suggests whom the Turbo will appeal to.

“It’s very comfortable and prefect for an executive who wants something for the road during the week and something for the track on weekends.”